Bundschuh v. Inn on the Lake Hudson Hotels, LLC

914 F. Supp. 2d 395, 2012 WL 5402303, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 158443
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. New York
DecidedNovember 5, 2012
DocketNo. 09-CV-6037-CJS
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 914 F. Supp. 2d 395 (Bundschuh v. Inn on the Lake Hudson Hotels, LLC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bundschuh v. Inn on the Lake Hudson Hotels, LLC, 914 F. Supp. 2d 395, 2012 WL 5402303, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 158443 (W.D.N.Y. 2012).

Opinion

DECISION and ORDER

CHARLES J. SIRAGUSA, District Judge.

INTRODUCTION

This is an action alleging hostile work environment, retaliation, and constructive discharge in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (“Title VII”), 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000e et seq., and the New York State Human Rights Law (“HRL”), N.Y. Exec. Law §§ 296 et seq. Now before the Court is Defendant’s motion for summary [398]*398judgment, filed February 22, 2010, ECF No. 14, and motion to opt-out of Alternative Dispute Resolution (“ADR”), filed October 5, 2012, ECF 27. The application for summary judgment is granted, and the request to opt-out is denied as moot.

BACKGROUND

Unless otherwise noted, the following are the facts of this case, viewed in the light most favorable to Plaintiff. Plaintiff worked for the Inn on the Lake1 (“Inn”) as its Director of Sales and Marketing from May 1, 2006, to July 5, 2007. The 134-room Inn is a largely seasonal resort, with its “busy season” lasting from Memorial Day to Labor Day. Christopher Burns (“Burns”), the Inn’s Managing Director, is the person who interviewed Plaintiff, reviewed the position requirements with her, and offered her a position as one of five Directors reporting directly to him. All Inn personnel, including Burns, ultimately are answerable to the President and Chief Executive Officer of Canandaigua Hotel Corporation, Tom Blank.

Plaintiff supervised a three-person staff responsible for booking business and social events at the Inn’s facilities. This involved calling on existing and potential clients, reserving blocks of rooms and hotel facilities, overseeing the preparation of contracts, and coordinating with others, such as the Director of Food and Beverage and the Director of Hotel Operations, to ensure that the requested facilities were available and to oversee the execution of events. Plaintiff was the Inn’s only female director.

Early in her tenure, Inn employees complained that Plaintiff was heavy-handed and demanding, and Burns describes her as having a “prickly personality.” Burns Aff. ¶ 10. In or about August 2006, Burns spoke to Plaintiff, in the presence of Food and Beverage Director Walt Berkstresser (“Berkstresser”), and advised that she needed to be more cooperative with Burns and her co-workers, and less heavy-handed with subordinates. Id. ¶¶ 10-11. According to Burns, he was required to discuss Plaintiffs heavy-handedness with her on several other occasions, including in approximately January 2007, when one of Plaintiffs staff, Judy White, broke down in tears over difficulties she had dealing with Plaintiff. Id. ¶¶ 12-14.

For her part, Plaintiff felt that Burns belittled and humiliated her. In late summer 2006, Plaintiff felt “belittled” by Burns when the two met with a local trade organization. After the meeting, she went to Roger Miller (“Miller”), the Inn’s Director of Finance, who also administers corporate HR policy at the Inn, and asked who she could speak to about human resources issues. Miller gave her the phone number for Wendy Blank, the Inn’s corporate HR Director. Plaintiff opted not to call Blank at that time. Pi’s Dep., 46:4-20. She did not contact Blank until June 8, 2007, when she left a voicemail asking that the HR Director return her call. In the meantime, she continued to approach Miller with grievances about her treatment by Burns. Plaintiff states that she repeatedly told Miller that Burns was treating her differently because she was a female, Pi’s Dep. 202:11-23, a claim Miller calls “absolutely incorrect,” Miller Reply Aff. ¶¶ 11-12. There were no witnesses to Plaintiffs and Miller’s discussion.

After Plaintiffs first meeting with Miller, Burns called an emergency Directors’ meeting. During the meeting, Burns “yelled” at Plaintiff for wanting to call [399]*399CEO Tom Blank, questioned why he hired her, and stated he could not trust her.

As a Director who attended regular meetings with both of them, Miller observed that “Plaintiff and Mr. Burns generally did not communicate well with one another.” Miller Reply Aff. ¶ 19. Miller describes Burns as occasionally having a “rough style,” and as someone who did not hesitate to single out a particular Director — “as virtually all of the Inn’s Directors have been on occasion” — and criticize him or her for making a mistake. Id. ¶¶7-9. Berkstresser offered a similar view, noting that Burns criticizes the performance of individual Directors during meetings in a way that can be “embarrassing and unwanted,” such as his recent reference to Berkstresser as a “crybaby.” Berkstresser Reply Aff. ¶ 8. Berkstresser describes Burns as having “frequently” criticized Director of Hotel Operations, Mike Reinhard, due to performance problems until his termination, in December 2007. Id. ¶ 9. Miller opines that Plaintiffs mistakes stood out at their meetings because no other Director during her tenure made mistakes of a sort that cost the Inn significant amounts of money, as Plaintiffs did. Miller Reply Aff. ¶ 8.

Plaintiff describes certain incidents, occurring after she first spoke with Miller, which she believes were harassing and/or retaliatory. These the following: Burns: approved her taking her sales team to dinner for reaching a goal, but later questioned the bill and delayed paying it; Burns directed her to discuss with Food and Beverage Director Berkstresser the various events that she arranged; Burns became upset with her for booking an expensive band during the off-season; Burns assigned her to work on a project beyond her job responsibilities and then marched into her office when she experienced challenges with the project; Burns indicated he wanted all of the Directors to lie about underage drinking at an employee event; Burns took an event away from her and assigned it to one of her subordinates; Burns gave her the “silent treatment;” Burns called her last for, or excluded her from, director meetings; and Burns unfairly disciplined her. Pi’s Rule 56 Counter Stmt.1ffl 39-152. To the extent necessary, these various actions will be discussed more fully below.

During her tenure, Burns addressed a number of performance-related issues with Plaintiff. In September 2006, at the end of the Inn’s busy summer season, Burns requested that Plaintiff begin making outside sales calls to local businesses over the next six weeks, advise him how many calls she could reasonably make per week, and provide him with a call summary at the end of each day. At some point in December 2006, Burns met with Plaintiff at his desk in the Inn’s lobby to express his disappointment at the level of her outside sales activities and to again advise her that she needed to actively start doing sales calls. Pi’s Dep. 56:14-57:25. Burns sent Plaintiff a follow-up email, dated December 21, 2006, “to put this in writing so there is no misunderstanding.” He then set out a detailed call schedule for Plaintiff, explaining that “[tjhis is the only way we can pick up new business in the first quarter when we badly need it.” Burns thanked Plaintiff for her hard work, and assured her the sales calls “will pay off in spades.” Defs Rule 56 Stmt., Ex. C. Plaintiff disagreed with Burns’ approach, and believed his comments were unfair, because as “director of the department, [she] was trying to make the best decisions for the department and the hotel. If [she] needed to be in the office to assist [her] team, that was more important.” Pi’s Rule 56 Stmt. 62:3-7, 63:21-64:2.

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914 F. Supp. 2d 395, 2012 WL 5402303, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 158443, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bundschuh-v-inn-on-the-lake-hudson-hotels-llc-nywd-2012.